The Way of All Flesh, by Ambrose Parry

There are a lot of good things about this book – a gripping murder mystery, interesting characters and an intriguing setting in the medical community in 1847 Edinburgh. But it is let down by its ponderous prose, clunky dialogue and extreme exposition. It is evident that a lot of research was done, but we really don’t need to know every detail of the development of photography or the chemical composition of ether and chloroform, especially as it does little to advance the story. At the same time there are some anachronistic notes, which slightly jar – was quite enough research done on some of the more prosaic details? If it had been, the characters would be more credible. Discovering that Ambrose Parry is actually a collaboration between a well known novelist and his scientist wife goes a long way towards explaining why this book was published, seemingly without editorial intervention to improve its many flaws.